Sleep plays an important role when it comes to building a healthy life. A healthy sleep consists of getting uninterrupted sleep for about 7-8 hours during which one’s body is able to rejuvenate and relax. A good night’s sleep plays a crucial role in making or breaking the day. Sleep is also one of the first things that are affected in today’s working society due to many factors like stress, pressure, unhealthy lifestyle, etc., and contribute to the degradation of health. Ayurveda offers daily rituals for better sleep that can help a person build a healthy and fulfilling life.
Ayurveda teaches that sleep is essential for the body to heal and repair itself. It also teaches that the quality of our sleep is affected by our daily habits and routines. By following an Ayurvedic evening routine for better sleep, one can prepare our bodies and minds for sleep, so that we can get a good night’s rest and wake up feeling refreshed and energized. Some of the evening routines in Ayurveda through which one can get quality sleep are:
Eat an Ayurvedic diet
Ayurveda provides a specific introduction when it comes to the consumption of food. The meals one consumes have a critical impact on their health and need to be curated in accordance with each person’s doshas and needs.
Ayurveda recommends eating the last meal of the day 2-3 hours prior to going to sleep as the night time is considered the time for the rest. During this time the entire body including the digestive system and eating right before going to sleep makes active digestion affecting the sleep schedule. Another recommendation of Ayurveda in the diet is the consumption of light and warm food during the night so that digestion would be faster and easily broken down.
Avoid using electronic devices after dinner
Electronic devices stimulate the brain forcing it to be out of a state of rest. This makes the idea of falling asleep a hard task to achieve. Hence Ayurveda recommends avoiding or at the very least limiting the use of electronic devices and focusing on activities that are relaxing like reading, meditation, pranayamas like alternate breathing or even massaging that aid in falling asleep and make it a routine. These activities help the body less stimulated and ensure the body is rested.
Avoid intake of caffeine-related beverages after 6 pm
Similar to how eating right before sleeping can stimulate the body, caffeine has the same effect. It prompted inhibiting properties in the brain that promote sleep hence falling asleep even harder. It is advised to not consume any caffeine or any related drinks after sunset as it can affect the body’s clock to fall asleep and get proper rest. It can affect the body for 3-7 hours which is the optimum time of sleep for the body, but also takes roughly 24 hours to completely remove the caffeine residues. Beverages like energy drinks and processed soft drink also contains optimum amounts of sugar and caffeine and hence those food items should be avoided too. Instead drinking herbal teas with ginger or cardamom helps soothe the body and trigger sleep and rest.
Engage in self–care rituals
One can trigger the body into a state of rest and promote sleep through self-care practices. These include oil massages to relax the entire body or even taking a hot bath to open the pores in the body to reduce and remove toxins and promote sleep. This also treats us to soothing herbal teas that promote the relaxation of the body and enable the body to fall asleep. Building a self-care ritual can also assist in building health and wellness along with a healthy sleep cycle.
Prepare an ideal sleep environment
One of the biggest reasons why sleeping becomes harder is because of not having an ideal sleep environment. An ideal sleep environment that is perfect for one person can be different for another person. Hence it is important to tailor the sleep environment according to the individual even though there are many common rules that need to be followed while building the ideal sleep environment. These include ensuring that there aren’t any electronic devices that are at arm’s length from the place of sleep. Another important factor is to create a soothing and peaceful atmosphere which means it is silent and is secluded from any chances of distraction. The temperature, the lighting, etc. in the room can be placed according to the individual person as it changes from person to person.
In conclusion, sleep is an essential component in building a healthy night of productive sleep. The ability to get healthy sleep had a critical impact on health and also the productivity of the next day. Following the Ayurvedic routine for healthy sleep can enable a person to build a routine of healthy sleep. It is also holistic and permanent hence can tackle the possibility of loss of sleep in the future. But if the situation of the unable to get healthy sleep it might be due to the symptoms of some other health problems and is better to seek ayurvedic treatment.
An Ayurvedic doctor can easily diagnose and understand the patient’s health condition and also the dosha imbalances and prescribe the tailored healing approach to the problem that constitutes the individual’s need.
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